The Power of Goals

The power of goals is that we create our own destiny!

So many of us including myself get sidetracked by life and end up doing things we think we should be doing instead of things we want to be doing. Many of us feel we don't have the power to do what we want to do. But we do!

Change your language. It is not I should do this, it is I MUST do this!

Everything in our life starts with a thought. While listening to Anthony Robbins Goal Setting Workshop I realized that I haven't really had clear defined goals for my life in years. No wonder I wasn't where I wanted to be!

My last real goal was to graduate college. I worked so hard to attain this and for some reason after I did this I believed that everything else would just fall into place. How very wrong I was!

People don't tell you how hard life and reality truly are!

Setting goals is not just about thinking them up. Actually sit down and write them out!

Operate from a clear level of belief and faith. Write down a plan of action.

Anthony Robbins says that the most successful people focus on the end result of their goal, what they will gain, NOT what they have to do to get there. If we spent too much time focused on the getting there we probably would never get anything done!

For example Anthony asked several business owners would they go back and do it all over again knowing what they would have to go through to attain success. All of them reflected with a laugh and said no! Because in the beginning they were focused on the goal and the end result NOT what they had to do to get there.

The reasons why you want to obtain something comes first, the answers come second.

The reason why goals work is-

• Thoughts are things, what you focus on is created. If you constantly focus on debt and bills in your life, you will get more debt and bills! On the other hand, if you focus on change and progress that's what you will manifest in your life!

• When you set a goal, your mind begins to feel the dissatisfaction in your present life. You will become even more aware that you simply cannot live the way you have been living and will do what it takes to reach these goals

Use goals as pressure-setters in your life. Welcome it! Don't hide from it.

Use it to motivate yourself. Ever since I started listening to these tapes and changing the direction in my life in other areas, I have begun to feel a sense of urgency. I have clearly defined what I want in my life now and I will stop at nothing to get it!

Set high expectations for yourself. Link pressure to seeking pleasure and link pain to failing and feeling more pressure!

What are you waiting for? Start now!

Start with WRITING down your personal development goals.

What would you like to become? What will be your skills, abilities, career, places to go do or be?

Spend about 5-7 minutes writing down these goals.

When finished go back over the goals and write a number that represents when you want this goal to be achieved in years beside the goals.

For example if you write down I want to be a business owner and you want to achieve this within 3 years write a 3 by this statement. If you wrote down I want to be happy and you want to achieve this in 1 year, write a 1 by this statement and so on.

After completing this go back and look at all the goals you want to achieve within one year and write down WHY you want to achieve these goals.

The WHY of going after something is just as important as WHAT and it will keep you focused why you cant live without this goal in your life any longer.

The second step of this exercise is to focus on your THINGS GOALS. These goals are for pure pleasure and can be materialistic. It could be a house by the beach or a boat etc.

What do you want to have, do, or create?

Make a list and repeat the same steps as in exercise one. Go back and write next to each goal a number that represents how many years it will take to achieve this.

Go back and take out the things you want to focus in one year and write down why.

The Third step of this goal writing exercise is to write down your Economic Goals.

Focus on what you want your net worth to be, how will you spend it, will you give it charities? get an IRA?

Repeat the steps you did with the first two exercises with writing down a number by each goal.

Start now!! Get some momentum in your life! Don't continue to live like a robot. Take control.

The Beatles

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Progress & The Beatles

So where am I now since the preceding days have so quickly flown away?

Where am I currently on my path to success?

Slow and steady wins the race.

An old saying but so true.

Every day I am hacking away at it.

The business plan is now about halfway complete. I am taking my time with it and making sure I have done my research.

Right now I am in Barnes & Nobles, my new home away from home. The past few times I've been here they have been playing The Beatles non stop. It's like Barnes knew I was coming. It really cant get any better.

Not sure how I feel about the re mixing of The Beatles Songs, taking out all the static in the background etc. Seems to take away some of the authenticity.

John Lennon is the third person I want to meet in heaven. Have you ever felt some strange cosmic connection to someone you've never even met? Someone you know you in a million years never would? That's John Lennon for me.

I don't care what most people say, Yoko did not break up The Beatles! They had one of the most amazing loves to ever exist. They would die for each other! How many people can you say that about in your life?

Yesterday I found a few possible spaces for my business. I made some calls to get some pricing-it is pretty reasonable here where I live.

Every day I feel like I'm getting closer to my dreams.

Every day I am feeling so much better in so many ways.

I am still doing my "hour of power" as Anthony Robbins calls it. Every morning I remind myself of all the things I am grateful. An attitude of gratitude will bring you many things.

Thinking positive, thinking success, thinking freedom...

I am the egg man! I am the Walrus......

Change The Meaning

Neuro-associations are quite a powerful thing.

As discussed previously we link things together whether it be positively or negatively and these neuro-associations shape our life and destiny.

The good thing is that we can actually change them.

How?

Anthony Robbins says there are three steps you have to take toward changing the meaning and making it last.

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1. Get Leverage on yourself.

In other words, you must get to the point where you feel that NOT changing would be massively painful. Your inner feelings should say, I MUST do this, not I should or might change this or that. You must hit your absolute bottom.

I know that is how I felt before I embarked on this journey of change. I decided that I MUST change my life. I could no longer go on the way I was.

2. Interrupt your present limiting associations.

Do something unexpected during the negative reaction, interrupt the pattern.

Anthony Robbins gave a good story as an example.

A woman came up to him at a seminar and she started telling him about her current problems in her marriage. She was very upset and crying. She obviously linked pain to her marriage. Anthony proceeded to take the glass of water in his hand and splashed some water on her in the midst of her crying. Not surprisingly, she was shocked and couldn't understand what he was doing. He of course was interrupting her pattern of negative thinking about her marriage.

He also mentioned another way to interrupt a pattern could be to make an unexpected noise during the association. Whatever it takes to take your main off of the focus of the negative association.

3. Condition yourself to have a new and empowering association

For example recently I found myself putting off writing certain parts of my business plan. I was delaying it because I was linking that part of the plan to pain-it seemed overwhelming to me. So I started thinking of my end goal and what I really want out of life which is to someday live at the beach. I started linking beach with business plan and repeating this in my head, actually visualizing it. I realized how it changed my whole entire feeling about it. I have since been able to tackle that part of it.

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Think of at least one thing you want to change in your life but have been putting off.

What will it cost you if you continue to put it off?

What will you gain if you make it happen?

What are some ways you could interrupt the pattern?

What is a new association you could have for it?

Looking within

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John Edward

I would like to talk about my beliefs in the after life which I have been doing a lot of reading on in the past months. Stick with me, it does tie into my previous topics.

I have always been a big fan of Lisa Williams

http://http://www.lisawilliams.com//

She is amazing and the real deal. If you have any doubts about mediums watch some of her sessions.

I am also a huge fan of John Edwards.

http://www.johnedward.net/

I don't know completely what I believe about the after life but I absolutely believe there is one.

Through my readings I have come across a common theme that mediums have reported as well as people who have experienced near death experiences.

This common theme is that there is a life review when you reach the other side. You are shown the good and bad things you have done with your life.

One story really stuck with me.

A man who had a near death experiences was being shown his life review. He was taken back to a time when he was a teen-ager and he intentionally keyed and damaged a strangers car. He was shown and experienced the repercussions of his actions to the extent that he was shown the owner of the car going home and telling his wife what happened and the man was shown the pain he caused the owner and his wife and he actually felt it.

The man came back to life and was inspired to consider others feelings when he took action even in the small ordinary things in life.

You probably think yes keying a car is wrong but it could have been much worse. There are some really sick people out there. True.

In this instance however it was enough to show the man his actions to get him to change the way he treated others.

Wouldn't it be great if we all considered others through our own actions?

What if we lived our life this way every day?

Why does it take such a profound occurrence such as the man's near death experience to inspire us to be better people?

Why does it take a tragedy to push us in another direction?

Personally, if I had not experienced the loss of my Dad, I would not have been compelled to explore the subject of the after life.

I would not have thought as deeply about this supposed life review we might receive after passing.

I would perhaps not be considering others in my actions.

Perhaps I would be continuing in my life along the same selfish path I was so comfortably used to.

It was through my readings and inner reflection that I came to the following conclusion;

Life really is a test. And one of the bigger tests is do we really get it?

Do we know that what truly matters is the spiritual parts of life and not the materialistic?

If we get so caught up in our careers and "making it" do we not see how we are missing the bigger picture?

Do we really get that being the best person that we can possibly be to ourselves and to others is what truly matters?

Things are not what matters and we cannot take them with us.

So why on earth am I sitting here writing a blog on being successful and escaping the 9-5?

Well, unfortunately we live in a society where money is the ruler. Money decides whether we eat or where we live. We have to eat and we have to lay our heads somewhere every night.

Some people want money so they can accumulate things like a nice car, a huge house, nice clothes etc.

I want to obtain financial freedom because I want just that-FREEDOM.

I want to pass the test of money and survival. I want to be able to put all of my energy into the things that really do matter like helping others and giving back. I dont want to worry anymore how I am going to pay this bill or that bill.

I would like to experiecne more out of life, travel, open my mind, learn, grow, help, inspire.

I used to always think that money ends up in the hands of the wrong people. People who just don't care about others. That's not entirely true but sometimes it is. If I had all that money there are so many people I would help! I would be one of those people that money fell into the right hands.

Greed is not admirable. Selfishness is a waste of time.

Giving and helping others are two of the things I would like to see in my life review.

What would you like to see in yours?

Business Plan

Any good business idea needs a solid business plan. I recommend using the business plan template i found at

http://www.score.org/template_gallery.html

I find this business plan to be very thorough and thought provoking. I also recommend looking at some sample business plans to help structure your own. You can find several sample business plans at

http://www.bplans.com/sample_business_plans.cfm

A business plan is essential to any potentially successful business. It is worth it to take the time to do thorough research and to be honest about any areas of failure that may arise.

This is especially true if you are going to be seeking funding from an outside source such a bank or investor.

A solid business plan can take several weeks to write and should ideally be around 25-30 pages.

In following the sample business template, you will see what areas you need to spend time researching the most.

For me so far it is researching the market. Just because you have a good business idea or product does not mean people will want to buy it.

Who are the potential customers? Why will they buy your product?

Initially I felt a little overwhelmed by the idea of writing a business plan but realize the importance of following through and taking it step by step to ensure my business is a success.

A business plan will take several drafts to complete and can also be reviewed for free by someone at your local SCORE office.

SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The Power of Associations

On tape three of The Anthony Robbins Personal Power Series I learned the following;

Our nervous system associates things automatically in our life with pain or pleasure. These neuro-associations create anchors for our reality and shape our destiny.

An example of a neuro-association is this-what do we automatically think of when we here the words "What spells relief?" Rolaids right! or what comes to mind when you hear "whose loving it?" McDonald's!

These neuro-associations were ingrained in our minds through repetition in commercials.
It is no different in our own lives. We form these associations early on in our life and we continue to form them. However, if we are aware of them, we can re-condition our nervous system to associate a positive association with something that we previously may have associated something negative with therefore increasing our pleasure in life and stopping the pain.

A personal example in my life is smoking. Four months ago I was a pack a day smoker. Early on in my life around the age of 15 I began to associate smoking with pleasure. Cigarette ads do it all the time! My group of friends were smoking and therefore I associated smoking with being cool or a fun thing to do and it just became automatic. Now when I smell cigarettes I realize how bad they really smell and I think about the smoke going into my lungs and all the hard work I've done to get healthy and into great shape and I now associate smoking with pain. I have literally re-conditioned my mind without even realizing it.

We can do this with anything in our lives. Start with thinking about and writing down three neuro-associations that you have formed that led you to something positive in your life today.

Mine are;

self confidence=positive, Independence
determination=strength
individuality=good

Now think about three neuro-associations you have formed that are negative and dis empowering. The next tape is going to show me how to change these step by step.
What does any of this have to do with getting out of debt, starting my own business, and being successful? Everything!

I know that the way I have been living my life is not making me happy. I have been stuck in certain thinking and ways of dong things for years and it is no longer serving me.

I want to be a positive, vibrant, healthy, successful person.

When you open your mind to new things, you open your life to new possibilities.

Total Debt

Ok so today I spent about four hours in Barnes in Nobles-I am in the midst of writing a business plan and have been pondering how this business is going to be funded. Which brought me back to a realization that it certainly isn't going to be funded by myself. Here is a look at my current financial status...please try not to laugh!

Income-0
Student Loan debt-$10,000 (has been in deferment for 2+ years)
Credit card debt-$16,000 and climbing

Please keep in mind that this does not include my husband's debt! (He also has a student loan & several credit cards)

Also, keep in mind too that this is old debt mostly from college days. I did pay my way through school and had to find a way to live, buy books etc. I did work through college as well. This debt was not accumulated going on endless shopping sprees and I do want to pay it off ASAP.

We have paid my car off but we are still making payments on his car and have about $4,000 left to pay.

We actually do own a house and one of my husband's paychecks a month goes toward the mortgage. The other paycheck goes toward bills. And we barely have enough to cover them let alone food and other expenses. The Middle Class is a joke!

Please don't get me wrong here, I am by no means feeling sorry for myself. In fact it is the complete opposite-I actually don't give a shit! These facts don't scare me at all. I'm not even worried one bit. I don't spend a second of my day stressing over it.

Am I nuts? Totally out of reality? Maybe

I just don't have any fear about my situation. I believe in myself and I know that I am going to be a success and that one day soon these numbers will be completely different.

The only actual fear I do have is resigning myself to the ordinary, to working a job I hate, to looking back on my life later on and feeling regret. I will find another way out of this!

I will tell you this and anyone who has experienced the same will relate-when you lose someone that you love as I lost my father, your entire perspective on life completely changes. I have always used little sayings like life is short etc. but I never really got that concept until my Dad passed away suddenly.

Life really is short-I really could be gone tomorrow. So am I going to spend my life worrying about money? No way!

That is partly why I am on this mission. I want freedom from money. I don't want it taking up any space in my head. I want to do so many other things with my time. But more on that later.

So to get back to my point. I obviously cannot fund my business idea and right now I am leaning away from applying for a loan for obvious reasons.

After a little digging I found some other alternatives, one that seems to fit my situation-an Angel Investor.

Angel Investors are private individuals with money who are actively looking for opportunities to invest in a promising young business idea.

Angel investors are specifically interested in companies founded on sound business ideas, which are likely to show significant, sustainable growth over the next 3-7 years.

There are also Angel Investor groups who invest $100,000 up to 2 million. Individual Angel investors invest $25,000 to $100,000.

This is money that you do not have to pay back. The deal is that the Angel investor will own a piece or percentage of your company or business.

A good place to start to find an Angel Group is:

http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/

or

http://www.angelcapitaleducation.org/

You can find an individual Angel Investor in several different places. Start with people you know and try to find people that have funds available.

A good idea is to have an "elevator pitch" which is a brief description of your business that could be given in the time it takes to ride a few elevator floors available for your potential contacts.

Check out your local Chamber of Commerce, investment forums, and entrepreneur organizations.

Also try incubators which offer support to start up companies at

http://www.nbia.org/index.php

Or find trade and professional organizations at

www.planningshop.com/associations

Small business development centers provide free one on one and low cost training programs to entrepreneurs. Find a local one at;

http://www.asbdc-us.org/.

Anthony Robbins

I started listening to Anthony Robbins personal power series after much pressure from my husband. He got the tapes for free at work and found himself inspired.

I am usually skeptical about these types of things. I tend to think these self-help people are just out to make a dollar off you.

So it took Donald Trump to convince me. In Trump's book "How To Get Rich" which I am currently reading as well, he endorses Anthony Robbins. I thought I would finally give it a chance.

My husband said he couldn't believe after all his bugging me, that's what it took to convince me. What can I say-I am stubborn!

I reminded myself that I am trying to change old thinking and learn new things so I can't be close-minded. I've decided to give his tapes a try and actually commit to applying them so I will let you know how it works. So far it has made me realize this-

1. Somewhere along the line I lost my excitement for life. I realized in was right after college. I felt so inspired up until that point, so full of hope.

And then I had bad experiences in my jobs after college and I lost that feeling. I thought, is this how it is? All that work for this?

And then somewhere along the line I accepted it, and told myself that yes, this is how it is. I want to get that excitement back. I want to get out of bed each day excited for the day ahead. I haven't felt that way in a very very long time.

My brain is so clouded with negative thinking and it has turned me into a robot of sorts. Anthony Robbins says that you have to condition your brain just like any other muscle in your body.

It's like when you start working out and soon it becomes a habit and you form a sort of addiction to it, and when you go a few days without it you feel like you need it. I know that I have definitely applied this in my life-I go to the YMCA 6 days out of the week. I hate going more than two days without working out! I have conditioned my body but not my mind.

I have to make positive thinking a habit. So for the past two days I have taken his advice and I have been doing what he call "power hour" where you wake up and go for a walk right away, focusing on a certain breathing pattern, and then giving gratitude for all the things you have, and then last, giving gratitude for the things you want in your life but don't have quite yet, although at this part you give gratitude for these things like you already have them. I have to say that since I have started my day this way, I do feel so much more energized and positive!

I haven't been grateful for really anything in my life for a very long time.

2. I also learned last night while listening to the second tape that the controlling force in all human behavior is the need to avoid pain and the desire to gain pleasure.

The need to avoid pain is a greater motivator then the other.

Everything we do in life centers around this. This made so much sense to!

A few examples in my own life popped out right away like quitting smoking and getting in shape. I put off these two things for so long. I would quit smoking then go back. It was so much more pleasurable to light up.

Withdrawal from smoking I assure you is painful! I was definitely avoiding that in my delay of quitting.

It is so much easier to eat foods we know aren't good for us. How many times have we said to ourselves I will start my diet tomorrow! That piece of cake tastes so good-it is fulfilling our pleasure!

Going to the gym initially and getting in shape is painful-it is a lot of work-much more work then staying committed to a healthy life!

It seems like such a simple concept but when we are unaware of it we have no idea how much control it has over us. Now that I am aware my goal is to use pain and pleasure instead of it using me.

I find the information I have learned so far in Anthony's tapes to be incredibly interesting and useful if you actually commit to applying it which I plan to.

I do believe that he genuinely cares for people and can help change your life for the better.

Doors started to open

So the day I decided that I was going to follow my heart instead of doing what I thought I should be doing with my life, things really started to change for me.

That day I went to the book store and bought several books, one being the book pictured here "The Top 10 Distinctions Between Millionaires And The Middle Class" by Keith Cameron Smith.

I went to the park and started reading and my mind just started opening up. I came up with several business ideas that day and creativity was flowing.

But most importantly I realized that day how stuck I had become in a certain ways of thinking-old ways.

I have known for a long time that I wanted to live my life differently but I never had the courage.

Fear has always held me back.

It was driven into me to go to college and find a career. It never felt right but I didn't think I knew any other way.

This book has got me thinking on a totally different wavelength.

It has many valid and eye-opening points through out but one that is sticking out in my mind since I finished this book is "Millionaires talk about ideas. The Middle Class talks about things and other people".

For about a week now I have been working on changing what I talk about. I could not believe how much I truly was talking about other people and things like entertainment, music etc.

Try it, just for one day, it's harder then you think!!

I know that I can no longer continue to live my life the way I have been living it.

And I also know that I don't know how to do that.

So with the help of books and other mentors I am embarking on this journey to change my life, the way I think, and the way I see things.